Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN!
Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2015.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Prompt #25 at Miriam Midkiff'sAncestories 2 blog is for "Your First Job." She has a series of 10 questions to answer. I'm not going to follow the questions exactly, but I'll try to cover most of them.

My first "real" job was working for my favorite football team, the San Diego Chargers during the summer of 1963. I didn't apply for it, it just happened by luck. I was 19 and hanging out with another guy named Randy Lee, who had a car (I didn't) and we were having fun riding around, going to the beach, and playing music on his pirate station. His father was an independent TV producer, and was part of an investment group that owned a dude ranch in the San Diego backcountry called "Rough Acres Ranch." There were about 20 cabins with 4 bunk beds each, a kitchen and program building, and several football sized fields.

Early in training camp, Randy's dad took us out there on a Saturday to see the team practice. We got there just in time for lunch, and when we walked in, Sid Gillman (the coach) came over to meet us and asked Randy's dad "So are these my new camp boys? I need two." His dad said, "well, what do you think? Want to give it a try?" Of course, Randy and I said yes. We stayed that night and learned the ropes and looked agog at the players we knew only from the newspaper and TV.

The Chargers were started in 1960 and played in Los Angeles for a year. Then they moved to San Diego and were the AFL Western champs in 1961, losing the championship game to Houston. In 1962, the team faded when QB Jack Kemp (yep, that Jack Kemp) got hurt and they finished out of the playoffs. In 1963, Sid Gillman claimed that they had to get tougher - so it was out to Rough Acres Ranch, a curfew during the week, no women, just work hard and get strong.

Our jobs were to sweep and mop the floors and clean the toilets every day in our assigned set of rooms. I think we probably had 10 rooms each. We did this while the team was at morning practice. In the afternoon, we could watch the practice. After dinner, the players would sit outside in small groups and shoot the bull, play cards, or pull stunts. The favorite stunt was for some country boys to get a rattlesnake rattle, put it on a stick, find some city boys sitting around and try to scare them - it usually worked! The other stunt was to catch a scorpion in something - a bottle or bag), wait until the targets were in their room with the door open (no A/C then), and the toss the scorpion into the room - you should have seen the big guys scramble to get on their bunks and not get stung by this little guy with his stinger running around the room.

The job for me was 6 weeks long. My friend Randy Lee lasted about 4 days - he hurt his back and went home to recover. I don't remember how much I made - perhaps $50 a week plus room and board. And free pre-season tickets for my brother and I. I brought a rattlesnake skin home as a trophy - my folks hung the smelly thing outside, and when the flies came around, my 8-year brother caught them for his turtle.

The most memorable experience was the night that Ernie Ladd (6'9" tall, 300 pounds, he was later a pro wrestler). The team had a special bed built for him, but hadn't ordered extra length sheets. Ernie was a holdout until the last week of camp, and when he signed, we had no warning. We were already in our room in bed, when there was a knock on the window and a gruff voice saying "Hey kid, make mah bed!" I scrambled, found some sheets and a blanket, and hurried over to his room and made the bed and quickly disappeared without hearing a "thanks, kid" from Big Ernie.

One of the players made friends with most of the camp boys, and he took us out hiking and hunting in the evening and early morning. We climbed the hills, looking for snakes and rabbits, and saw several beautiful morning sunrises. Frank Buncom was a prototype linebacker, 6-2, 230 lbs, a big, well-spoken, happy black guy from Mississippi (I think) who graduated from college in 1962. He was in his second year and had a heart of gold and a tremendous hunger to prove himself on the field. Unfortunately, Frank got traded to Cincinnati in 1964 and died on the field in 1967. What a tragedy.

One day, I asked my mother if we could invite Frank over for dinner. She said OK, and I called him up through the Chargers office. He accepted and came by on the appointed night. My little brother wanted to play catch with a real football player, so we went out on 30th street and threw the football around. He was so nervous that he couldn't run his routes well - he was really awestruck by Frank. My father was too - he had never known many black people, and was amazed that Frank had a college degree and was looking forward to being a teacher. My mother really appreciated Frank that he had befriended me and broadened my world a little. I don't know what we had for dinner, but my brother and I have always remembered that evening.

The Chargers went 11-3 and were AFL champions in 1963, beating the Boston Patriots 51-10 at Balboa Stadium in San Diego. I was there with my brother. That is the only championship team in major league sports for a San Diego team. The Chargers finally made it to a Super Bowl in 1995, but lost to the 49ers by 49-23.

While the job was fun for me, and not mentally challenging like my college work was, it provided some spending money and raised my stature in the eyes of my parents and brothers. I "knew" the players on the team.

This was not the biggest or most important moment in my life - that would come later with marriage and children. But it was my first step to independent living and I learned that I could stick with something and succeed on my own. I had a little help from a friend, but I did it my way (mixing my Beatles and Sinatra there, but you get the idea!).

Lee Drew at the FamHist genealogy blog found a real "deal" on genealogy software and an Ancestry subscription. See his post "Genealogists - Deal of the Year." There is a link on his page to buy FamilyTreeMaker 16, GenSmarts, an Ancestry subscription and more stuff for $15.49 plus shipping from a website called www.NothingButSoftware.com.

Lee thinks that the year's subscription to Ancestry may be the World Deluxe subscription.

The regular price for this was $99.99 and they say it is a $450 value. We'll see. I ordered it because I want to try GenSmarts. If it is really a World Deluxe subscription to Ancestry, I'll keep it and use it for myself, cancelling my current US Deluxe subscription when it expires in a month. I'll probably donate the FTM 16 and other items to CVGS for the opportunity drawings we have each month.

I'll let you know what I get when I get it. Sometimes deals like this are too good to be true, and sometimes they are everything they claim it to be.

Thanks to Lee for his sharp eye for a good deal. Did he order it also?

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Here is the press release sent out by the Chula Vista Public Library on 2 October for the 20 October seminar:---------------------------------------BEGIN YOUR FAMILY HISTORY SEARCH AT FREE SEMINAR ON OCT. 20 Ever wondered when your relatives came to California or wanted to trace your ancestors back to their countries of origin but don’t know how to begin a search for the answers? Then don’t miss a free seminar titled “Discover Your Family History Online” on October 20 at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library, 365 F St. The seminar will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The seminar is intended for young-adults and adults who are interested in researching their family history. The focus will be on genealogy resources available on the Internet, including freely accessible and commercial genealogy web sites.

“Finding out about your ancestry is like a treasure hunt or a detective story---you never know what you will find,” said Randy Seaver, President of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society. “This seminar will give participants an opportunity to find out about web sites that are available to start their own family history search.”

In addition to this seminar, the Chula Vista Genealogical Society (CVGS) regularly meets on the last Monday of the month at 10 a.m. in the Civic Center Library auditorium. Additionally, a CVGS member is usually present in the library on Mondays from 10 a.m. to noon to assist people with their research. The meetings and assistance are free and open to the public.

Sponsored by the Chula Vista Public Library and the Chula Vista Genealogical Society, this workshop is one of a variety of free programs offered for children, teens and adults at the library’s three branches. For more information call (619) 691-5069 or click on www.chulavistalibrary.com, or the CVGS website: www.rootsweb.com/~cacvgs2/. To contact the CVGS president Randy Seaver directly, e-mail rjseaver@cox.net or call 619-422-3397.

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We are hoping for a large turnout among San Diego area researchers. If you have that day free, please come attend our seminar.

I've been at my daughter's house in Santa Cruz for two days and I'm already too pooped to pop. Most of it has to do with sleeping arrangements and two little boys who don't sleep the night. The rest has to do with a family in the process of saying goodbye to the family patriarch.

I'm sleeping in the older boy's (age 4) , with the younger boy (age 19 months) in the bedroom. The older boy is sleeping with his mom. The first night, the little one woke up at 3:30 and I finally got him back to sleep at 4:30, but then when I tried to put him in his crib, he woke up. Mom came and took him and I went back for another fitful two hours before the older boy came and asked me to get him some breakfast at 7 AM.

We drove 150 miles north to the family home of my son-in-law's grandparents, sister and uncle. His grandfather has congestive heart failure, and has stopped eating. He received the last rites on Thursday, and thought that he would die immediately. Well... no. He's still lucid, but is not sleeping much, and really wants to pass away. His wife is tending to him 24 hours, which makes her a basket case also. Family friends are coming by, and all of the family in town comes every day to say goodbye again. I doubt if he will die for several more days. They won't move him to a care facility at this point.

I slept at the sister's house next door with the older boy in the room. He woke up at 1 AM and didn't go back to sleep until 2 AM. He wanted to go down to where his mom was in the dark. He woke up at 6:15 AM, and got his shoes on and was halfway down the hill by the time I got to the window. I went down and had breakfast, then came back to the sister's house and showered and then took a nap while she played with the boy.

We left at lunch time for home, and had lunch at a Quizno's place, then fought the traffic down US 101 to San Francisco (there was an air show on the Bay today). We stopped at the Ocean Beach and the boys and the dog (I didn't mention the dog did I - she pooped on the carpets in 3 places in 12 hours!) really enjoyed walking on the sand and running from the waves. They came home in their underwear. The little guy cried and cried most of the hour before the beach and the hour after the beach. We finally made it home by 4 PM.

I took them both for walks this afternoon with the dog, just along the path near the little house in the redwoods. It's so peaceful and quiet here. We checked out the blackberry bushes (pretty bare right now) and watched the dog follow her nose. At dinner tonight, the older boy said "I don't like broccoli" and I responded automatically "Come on, eat it, it will put hair on your chest." He immediately said "No, I have a diesel train on my chest" (on his shirt). That's the highlight of the weekend so far.

Needless to say, it's not been a fun weekend yet. But family history is being made. I know the older boy will remember his great-grandfather, and playing with his aunt, and the beach visit. We'll remember the maudlin scene and saying goodbye to a fine man, and the broccoli comment.

The above explains why I haven't posted much the last two days. The postings will be sparse until the time available increases.

Friday, October 5, 2007

"Bridget Kelly from Moyross in Limerick saw an advertisement in the Irish Independent newspaper looking for Irish relatives of an American gentleman by the name of Richard Riordan-Schalk. Kelly recognized some of the names that were listed as ancestors of Riordan-Schalk’s and called attorney Paul Lanzillota of the Manning and Murray law firm in Arlington, Virginia. "However, Lanzillota told the Irish Voice on Tuesday there are another 160 possible relatives of the dead man.“At this point we have 161 names of people who might have been related to Richard Riordan-Schalk,” he said."---- <> ----"“The only heirs we can’t find are the Irish heirs. One half of this estate is going to the German side of the family and one half to the Irish,” said Lanzillota.“We found the Germans very quickly, some of whom were in Chicago and one in Massachusetts. But for Ireland the research went back as far as 1842. "The difficulty now is proving that they are heirs,” said Lanzillota, explaining that another $300,000 of the estate has been given an individual to settle a lawsuit."----- <> -----"Anyone who can prove to be related to the following may be eligible, if proven, to claim part of the estate that Richard Riordan Schalk left behind: David Riordan, who was born in 1808 and died in 1865. Mary Riordan (nee McCarthy) date of birth and death not known. Both resided in Limerick."Bartholomew Daly and Mary Daly (nee Walsh) who married on March 28, 1852 in Freemount, Co. Cork. They emigrated to Chicago and had three children, Elizabeth Daly Riordan, (September 9, 1858 to July 7, 1932), Michael Daly (October 10, 1856-death unknown) and Eileen Daly (July 2, 1864-death unknown)."It's interesting to see how others have reported this story. For instance:

So far, they have identified 161 heirs. It's unclear if these are all equal shares -- they probably aren't if the siblings of Richard Riordan-Schalk's ancestors way back when did not have the same number of kids. But if the shares were equal, the $1.9 million would be split into shares of 11,801.24. And that's before the attorneys fees finding these relatives and processing mountains of paper. Not much, eh?

I did a search like this for my second cousin several years ago - our great-uncle died without children but he left a will leaving his estate to charity and friends. My cousin wanted to contest the will, and asked me to investigate since I have records for many of the descendants of Thomas and Julia (White) Richmond (8 siblings had issue).

Assuming that the estate would be split evenly among descendants of our great-uncle's siblings, I figured that my cousin's share would be about $125,000 out of a $1 million estate (her grandmother had 1 child who had 1 child), and mine would have been about 11,000 (since my grandmother had 7 children who had 11 children). But we would have had to contest the will - our shares would have disappeared into legal fees in a flash if not sooner. But it was fun to pursue and think about!

The next Carnival of Genealogy will be about Halloween and the Supernatural! Lots of latitude with this edition... stories of haunted houses, ghosts, any superstitions, voodoo, stories of Halloween parties or traditions, trick or treating, good luck charms, curses, ... Was there a witch in the family? How about a black cat? Anyone have bats in the house? Is there a legend about a spooky place in your neighborhood? What was your favorite Halloween costume? Any funny scarecrow stories? Did grandma have a magic potion? Any stories of ancestors rising up from the dead to haunt people? What about bizarre happenings on the night of a full moon? Bring on your hauntings and horror stories, humorous and happy ones as well.

PS. I arrived safely in Santa Cruz ... almost got knocked down by a 35 pound 4-year old greeting me at the airport, though - the kid's going to be a running back, I think. We went to our fave Chinese food place for lunch - he had tofu and noodles, I had almond chicken. Then we came home for a nap. Now I gotta go outside and play. See you soon.

I'm off on Thursday to visit my daughter and grandsons in the Santa Cruz area of California. With her husband deployed, the boys need some male attention and she needs some rest. So -- here comes grandpa - ready to fly airplanes, play in the woods, find banana slugs and pick blackberries with the little guys. I also plan to chase them around the house, and watch Thomas and his Friends, the Little Einsteins and the Wiggles on TV. I hope they let me watch the baseball playoff games and the football game on Sunday. I'll probably get to tickle their sides, feed them, bathe them, hug them, tell them stories, whisper ahnentafel lists, and everything else fun to do with little boys.

This is what I call "making family history" - instilling fun and happy times with grandpa in their memories so that they will appreciate me when I can't do it any more.

I will not take my laptop this time, but will have access to the Internet most evenings, so I'll post occasionally. I may miss a day or two if we go up to Petaluma to see the boys' great-grandfather.

I hope to return to San Diego on Tuesday next week. I will have to delay my "regular" feature posts - "The Best of the Genea-Blogs" and "Della's Journal" until I get back.

If you absolutely have to have a genealogy blog fix, then please go visit my colleagues on the blog roll to the right of this page. They are chock full of ancestral stories and genealogy tips and will greatly appreciate you stopping by and reading their work.

WorldVitalRecords.com has announced that they have added 800,000 images and 32 million names from the 1790 to 1930 census records -- see the announcement here. The announcement sounds so good - that this is a real boon to genealogy research -- "You can now see census records at WorldVitalRecords.com."

But wait. I observe that:

* There are images from selected counties for each year. Not even whole states. If you are real lucky, you might find one of your counties included.

* There are no indexes for most of these records (they say 1790 is indexed), so you will have to page through them one at a time looking for your people. Dejavu here - remember cranking microfilm looking for your targets page-by-page? Now you can mouse-scroll at home rather than crank at the FHC.

* 32 million names sounds like a lot. I counted up the numbers on Ancestry some time ago, and came up with almost 600 million names in their indexes for 1790 to 1930 census records. So 32 million is like 6%. In other words, you have 1 chance in 16 of finding a record for a given person.

* Will there be more census images and names as time goes on? The announcement doesn't say. My guess is that AllCensus is working on it, but slowly.

* Will WVR or AllCensus really provide an every-name index? Ever? They say they will - but only time will tell.

Of course, Ancestry.com has all of the census records available already for 1790-1930, with an every-name index, for a US subscription cost, or for FREE at a library that subscribes to Ancestry Library Edition.

HeritageQuestOnline has all of the census images, but only certain years with a head-of-household index, available for in-home use if you have a library card for a participating library.

New FamilySearch will eventually have all of the census images with an every-name index sometime in the future - for FREE.

I appreciate that WorldVitalRecords is adding census records to their collection, but what they have added so far won't entice me to subscribe to their collection, since I can get much more in census records for free from other providers (although I have to go to a library to obtain them).

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

I received an email from Family Tree Magazine describing AGES-Online (AGES Stands for Advanced Genealogical Exploration Services) as a service that is "Saving Your Family History for the Ages" and offers "Fully Loaded For Your Genealogical Needs," listing the capabilities as:

"It's Your Data! AGES believes your family data is your data and not public domain. All AGES accounts are password protected and are only visible to you and your guests."Data Center Backups. Enjoy genealogy without the worries. Your records are backed up in multiple data center locations."Standard Templates. Enjoy our extensive templates for entering Events, Details, Sources and Citations. Templates created using Industry Standards."

After a brief look around the web site, it appears that this is a commercial web site designed so that a user can enter and store their genealogy data online. It is not a true social network site, although you can share information with other researchers of your choice.

In short, it is a substitute for genealogy software residing on your computer and genealogy data stored in a database on your computer. It would be available to the user any place you could access the Internet.

This site offers an Economy subscription as a 30 day Free Trial. The Economy subscription ($39.95 for an Annual subscription) includes full Family Tree Edit capabilities, Unlimited number of individuals, and numerous reports and charts.

There will be Standard, Enhanced and Deluxe subscriptions available later with more capabilities (no prices given). You can see all of the Features for each subscription type at http://www.ages-online.com/features.cfm.

You can click on the plus (+) sign next to each Feature type to see what each subscription offers. A drop-down list will appear when you click the (+) sign and you can see check marks to describe what each subscription level offers.

For example, the Economy subscription will offer only Family Group Sheet, Outline Descendant and Descendant Genealogy Reports in the Reports category. If you want a Custom Report, Source Usage report, a Citation Usage report and several other reporting capabilities, they will only be available in the more expensive subscription.

You can upload a GEDCOM file for all subscription levels. There is no indication about what will happen to User Notes or Facts uploaded in a GEDCOM. There is no Ahnentafel List or Ancestor Report offered at any level - these are standard reports with almost all genealogy software.

They offer a personalized web site in the Standard, Enhanced and Deluxe levels with an upload of a single picture for each individual.

There are many more features - go visit the site and read all of the information. I recommend using the Free Trial to see what information is uploaded and what report capabilities are provided.

For $39.95, I can make a one-time purchase of new FamilyTreeMaker 2008 software that will do nearly everything (and probably more) that this web site will provide. The obvious exception is the database would be online and accessible to the user anywhere they had access to the Internet.

This is an initial review of this web site, and I may have missed some valuable features. I have not signed up for the free trial yet, but will in a week or so. If someone has more comments, please write your own blog post or comment on this post.

It's about time, isn't it? Shouldn't every commercial genealogy company have a blog capability affiliated with their web site in order to announce new databases, added capabilities, acquisitions and the like?

Of course, Ancestry has published a Weekly Ancestry News for years, and had a Daily Ancestry News for awhile, which was replaced by the 24/7 Family History Circle blog edited by Juliana Smith. A weekly email containing the blog posts comprises the current Ancestry Weekly News sent by email to subscribers for FREE.

It makes sense for The Generations Network to create a blog for each of its' major products. There are already blogs for:

"Welcome to the Ancestry Blog! We’ve created this Ancestry blog as the place to keep you connected with what’s going on at Ancestry.com. It’s a place to learn about new additions – our products, content, features and other services – as we develop them. Here you will read blog posts from the people who create and develop these products and features for Ancestry.com.

"You’ll find blog posts on all sorts of Ancestry.com topics: content and digitization, family trees and other site features. Learn the latest company news, see what the press has to say about the company, even offer your opinion in interactive polls. Read posts from the people who are continually working to improve Family Tree Maker, Ancestry Press, DNA Ancestry, Ancestry print publications and many other products. Chat with Tim Sullivan, president and CEO of The Generations Network, parent company of Ancestry.com.

"And, we want to hear from you. We hope you’ll leave comments and offer your thoughts, ideas and other opinions. Share your ideas on what works, what needs to improve and what you’d like to see on the site in the future."

That sounds like a well-intentioned effort to try to communicate with the subscribers of Ancestry services. However, "the proof is in the pudding" as they say. Is a blog really the most efficient and user-friendly way to communicate between customers and providers? It may be, but it might not be.

Are they saying that TGN CEO Tim Sullivan is writing the blog? Or that users can somehow "chat" with him, presumably electronically? Perhaps that is in the near future.

To date, the Ancestry.com blog has 8 posts (over 25 days) concerning Ancestry Press, FamilyTreeMaker and DNA Ancestry products. There are a few congratulatory comments, but there are few real constructive or critical comments yet - probably because these blogs are new to the genealogy world.

For Ancestry databases and FamilyTreeMaker, there are message boards for review and comment and they are well used by subscribers trying to figure out how to use the products or services. There are also lists of Frequently Asked Questions on each web site in an effort to communicate with users and subscribers.

It seems to me that using one blog - the Ancestry.com blog - to try to communicate with users and subscribers of all of The Generations Network products will not work out well.

If asked, I would have recommended creating separate blogs for each product with a unique blog name - a blog family, if you will. A separate blog for each of the Ancestry.com family - US, Canada, UK, Sweden, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, etc. would probably work much better than one blog for all of Ancestry.com.

Likewise, a blog just for FamilyTreeMaker communication would probably be better than hiding the FTM light under the Ancestry.com blog bushel.

Of course, with blogs most of us know that CONTENT is everything. A blog requires constant care and feeding - often one or more posts a day - to maintain readership and to communicate with its readers. Will the developers of the different TGN products be able to regularly post development news and answer comments and questions from users?

Will The Generations Network really listen to the suggestions, comments and questions from their users and subscribers? After the public relations stumbles of the past 12 months, I wonder if they have the commitment to listen to the Voice of their Customers. If they have that commitment, then they need to demonstrate it. I sincerely hope that they will. If they don't, their competitors will gradually overtake them (I realize that it might be a very long chase!).

"Illegible words on church headstones could be read once more thanks to a scan technology developed in the US. "Scientists at Carnegie Mellon university are making high resolution 3D scans of tombstones to reveal the carved patterns in the stone.

"A computer matches the patterns to a database of signature carvings which reveals the words."

Later, the article says:

""This technology is expected to reduce guessing work in field inspection," said Dr Yang Cai, director of the Ambient Intelligence Lab at Carnegie Mellon Cylab."In recent weeks, Dr Cai's research team have been testing the new technique at a 200-year-old cemetery close to the university in Pittsburgh. "The scientists have been scanning unreadable gravestones at Old St. Luke's Church to help its Episcopal pastor identify all the names on the cemetery's tombstones."

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This will be especially useful in areas where gravestones have tremendous erosion and colorful blotches on them from coal and sulfur emissions. There are few graveyards in England that have readable stones from before 1900, in my limited experience in Wiltshire.

Now if they could only read the invisible gravestones that are lost to time - the ones that used to be on graves in cemeteries all over the world. We all know that the bare areas nearest the church used to have a field of gravestones that have been lost to weather, vandalism, etc.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

"This past Thursday, the 2007 edition of the "Periodical Source Index" (or PERSI as it is often called) was loaded on the www.HeritageQuestOnline.com web site. This latest edition of PERSI brings the total number of periodical titles indexed to 6,652 and the total number of article citations to 2,038,494! PERSI is the largest and most comprehensive subject index to genealogy and local history periodicals published in North America and the British Isles. "It really should be a must-check source for every family line and geographic location one is researching. If you've never used PERSI or don't believe you're getting the full benefit from the index, sign up for the "Using PERSI" program on Tuesday, October 22nd from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the Main Library's Computer Classroom by calling (260)421-1225."

PERSI is described here. It is wonderful for what it does, and the Allen County (IN) Public Library (ACPL) offers a copying service for any article that a researcher wants to obtain - the order form is here.

It is very likely that key information that might solve many brick wall research problems is hiding in articles in genealogy periodicals and newsletters. Almost every state and many counties have regular genealogy publications, and local researchers have transcribed or abstracted millions of records and names.

There are also books and CDROMs that contain the PERSI index which can be found in libraries, but they are often dated. Online at HQO, you can search by surname, locality and keyword. However, the search is only on certain words in the title, author, locality or keyword list.

The problem with using PERSI effectively is that there is no "every-name" index such as there is on many genealogy web sites. The reason is obvious - the ACPL does not have digital archives for all of these periodicals, and if they did there would be substantial copyright issues with authors and publishers. I guess I've been spoiled in the last few years.

"AMERICANA, BrazilNow well past 90, Judith MacKnight Jones is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, the illness that robbed her of all of her memory, her most precious asset. She has been lying here for the past 11 years, covered by a patchwork blanket, made from pieces her great-grandmother brought from the United States between 1865 and 1885, after the Confederacy lost the Civil War."Unable to speak or remember now, her book "SoldadoDescanso" ("Rest Soldier") is written in Portuguese, but soon will be translated into English, as the publisher thinks Americans should know about the proud history of Confederate immigrants settling in Brazil, finding a new home here but maintaining many of the traditions they brought from Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, the Carolinas and Georgia.----<> ----""Over a century old and symbolizing our heritage, the flight from our homelands, it is extremely important to keep it that way. I teach my children and grandchildren the American values our ancestors have brought with them. And I expect them to teach their children and grandchildren the same," she said."Every spring, hundreds of the descendants of the soldiers who lost the war against the North go to the cemetery they call O Campo. They party and meet dressed in traditional costumes, staging shows, singing Southern songs like "When the Saints Come Marching In" or "Oh Susannah," playing banjos and blowing trumpets, the men eventually getting drunk on home-brewed beer."

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"Almost 150 years ago, Dr. James McFaddon from South Carolina went to Mobile, Ala., and New Orleans to open negotiations with Brazil to migrate, looking for a new home. He traveled to Brazil and, on his return, wrote a book, "Home Hunting in Brazil," planting seeds for emigration.

"Between 10,000 and 20,000 Americans made the journey, leaving the United States to look into building a new home and life. Today, they live not only in Americana and nearby Santa Barbara, but are scattered all over the hills of the state of Sao Paulo and over several other parts of Brazil, the fifth-largest country in the world. "

One of the questions that arose at last week's CVGS Research Group meeting was "can Social Security Administration provide a death date for someone with a SS Number?" The situation was that this person was not in the Social Security Death Index (since he probably died before 1962 and may not have drawn benefits).

** Search for Information about Death of an Individual, SSN Provided (SSA does not usually have place of death, burial, or cause of death) -- $16

** Search for Information about Death of an Individual, SSN Not Provided (SSA does not usually have place of death, burial, or cause of death) -- $18

Of course, I didn't find this web page until I had written them twice via email to ask the question. The first time I got an answer saying I could get the SS-5 application. The second time they emailed the info on this web page and did answer my question within one day.

I've passed this to my colleague who does know the SSN, so we'll see what she gets in response. She doesn't know John Robinson Hall's death date or place, but thinks it was probably in Philadelphia PA. If she can get a death date from SSA, then she can request an obituary lookup in the Philly newspapers from the Temple University library.

Did everybody know this? I sure didn't, but it is logical that SSA would have a death date recorded somewhere in an SSA file.

Now - what about the employment record? Will SSA have a list of Social Security taxes collected and the employment records by year for an individual?

Jean Wilcox Hibben is a Southern California genealogist and story teller par excellence (she has spoken at SDGS several times). She is a doctoral candidate now, and is looking for family stories to use in her research and dissertation.

She recently posted this to the APG mailing list (see the thread here). I asked for and was granted permission by Jean to post this on my blog.

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Greetings, fellow APGers.Some of you may have already heard about my dissertation project, and some have already submitted stories to it, but for those who have not, here is my plea for help.I am a doctoral candidate in folklore and my dissertation is on family stories. Since my concentration is American folklore, the stories need to be American in origin, but immigration stories are acceptable. They need to be stories that have endured over at least 2 generations (things your grandparents told you or maybe what your parents shared that they learned from their parents, grandparents, etc.). Stories need to have had some sort of impact (however slight: even that the story inspired you to research your family lineage) ... in other words, why did the story manage to survive? Stories must also be from your own family (though if you have a client who has a great story, please encourage that person to submit it!). I am collecting stories from the genealogical community as that is the population I am eventually generalizing to, but stories need not be proven true ... in fact, some of the questionable stories that have endured and even impacted families are the most intriguing. I am following the general cataloging of folklorist Stephen Zeitlin at the folklore center in NY.As an enticement, I am offering to donate $1 per story (that meets the criteria) to the genealogical society identified on the submission form (yes, this is ethical as I am not soliciting by offering to pay directly to submitters). I expect to be compiling the data by early spring 2008, so the sooner the stories are submitted, the more time I have to work with them (donations will be made once the analysis is complete ... hopefully by June 2008). If you would be willing to submit your stories and/or present this opportunity (perhaps as a fundraiser) to your own genealogical society, please see the details and submission form at: <www.circlemending.org/familystory.html>. Sample stories can also be found at that website: <www.circlemending.org>, click on "Dissertation project."I appreciate this list for the many bits of information I have received over the past years and now hope that some of you good folks will assist me in this area. Thank you so very much!!Best,Jean-- Jean Wilcox Hibben, MA,CGsmRiverside County, CaliforniaMember, Association of Professional GenealogistsMember, Genealogical Speakers GuildPresident, Corona (CA) Genealogical Society

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Can you help Jean out with her project? There is an incentive for people to submit articles. It might be useful to visit her web site to see the type of stories that she wants.

Monday, October 1, 2007

As many of my faithful readers know, I am a San Diego sports fan - always have been, always will be. My town, my teams - Padres, Aztecs, Chargers. I root hard, and live and die with their fortunes.

Recent years have been good for the Chargers and Padres - they both made the playoffs in 2006, but lost early. In 2007, the Chargers were supposed to be the best team in the league on paper. Well, the Bolts are 1-3 after this weekend.

The Padres needed to win one game out of three this weekend, and didn't. No playoffs.

This is Installment 39 of the Journal of Della (Smith) Carringer, my great-grandmother, who resided at 2115 30th Street in San Diego in 1929.

The "players" and "setting" are described here. Pictures of some of the players are here. Last week's Journal entry is here.

Here is Week 40:

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Tuesday, October 1: Washed. I took my bath. I ironed. Austin worked around home. Letter from Aunt L[ibbie].

Wednesday, October 2: Mr. Papke came to see me about the lots they will deed back to us to save foreclosure. We A[ustin] & I went down to Union Title to get a little information. Pd $65 on our Bldg & Loan have one more payment to make.

Thursday, October 3: We met Mr. Papke at 9:30 A.M. at the Union Title Co., they made out papers. Mr. Papke is to take the Quit ["Guarantee" overwritten] Title Deed up and have the signatures and stamps. I Pd safty box dues at Bank of Italy to 1930. Sent My Lodge dues for Oct Nov & Dec. Mr. & Mrs. Schmidt called while we were down town. Ate lunch with Ma & A[ustin]. I got home at 1.30 the Man Mr. Harris had left Ma's house in the night or evening said it was to warm for them. Had paid a months rent only there from the 25th to the Oct 2nd. Gave Mrs. Smythe $1.00 for water.

Saturday, October 5: Ed did not come over. A[ustin] & I went down to finish up deal, then we went out Ma's house & finished up fixing things. They left Thermos bottle, baby's blanket & her kid gloves, some whiskey bottles and a tester. We do not think they will be back, left dog with neighbor. I went out to Mr. Garlock's, stayed a while, they are about as usual. Emily making felt baby hats for store.

Sunday, October 6: Mrs. Hughes, Josephine & Ivas came home. Mrs. Lipp ($16.67) & Gilbert sisters ($20.) Pd on rent of 2119 30th St (owe $13.33). Lyle's went out at 10:30 A.M. on the boat with Mr. Griffiths & Nolans, had a nice time, home by seven P.M. We had to fight ants this morning, Mrs. Wilson had them too. Ma had bath.

Monday, October 7: A[ustin] took Mr. Fay his lodge dues for Oct, Nov & Dec. A[ustin] went back to work this morning will not get pay for a few days, they send it to San Pedro & back. We washed & picked figs sold 85c gave 5 lbs away.

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The problem of Mr. Papke with paying his mortgage was a surprise - I wonder where the property is? I'll go check the 1930 census and see if I can find out. Hopefully, he will rent it rather than own it. As we approach the stock market crash later in October, Della and Austin have one more payment to make on their mortgage.

I'm still confused about Della paying lodge dues - she was an artist of some sort. Austin was a carpenter and was a member of a carpenters lodge or union, I guess.

In an effort to set down some personal history for my posterity, I'm going to give it a try. Five questions don't seem too hard - let's see what happens.

The first questions concern school memories:

1) What was your favorite subject in school?

MATHEMATICS. Fingers, adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, fractions, algebra, trigonometry, logarithms, calculus, differential equations. I entered San Diego State as a Mathematics major, but quickly changed to Aerospace Engineering when I realized that teaching was one of the only jobs available for Math majors - this was before computers, of course.

2) In what extra-curricular activities did you participate? Sports? Drama? Music? Academics?

SAFETY PATROL. I was a Private (4th grade), Sergeant (5th Grade) and Supply Sergeant (6th grade) at the corner of 30th and Ash Streets in San Diego from 1953 to 1957. Supply Sergeant was second-in-command to the Lieutenant and got to do all the jobs delegated to him. The red sweater, white pants and gold caps were cool. On Saturdays, the Police Department sponsored movies at the Fox Theater downtown - we saw lots of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, HopalongCassidy, etc. No Annette Funicello, though - too bad.

Sports? I couldn't hit a baseball, see over the butt of the center in football, came up to my friend's armpit in basketball, and soccer wasn't invented yet. My buddy Paul and I excelled in handball because we were closer to the floor than the other players. Drama - are you kidding? Meet Mr. Stage-Fright. Music - I sing in the key of J-Sharp, I'm told...'nuff said. Academics - we didn't have an Academic Bowl team then - and then there was the stage fright issue, which also hampered my dating prospects.

The school activity that I tried to avoid was after-school or evening dances. I was really into the music (1956-1961) and still am, but dancing was something I never physically mastered and was always leery of participating in. I was Mr. Wallflower all through Junior and Senior High School. In high school, I ended up after school in the library in downtown San Diego. I could walk from school, and then safely take the bus home hours later. I would do homework research there, read current magazines and newspapers, and search for the "good" books in the fiction section. I learned a lot there! I never went in the genealogy room, though - unfortunately! (Heck, I could be all done with my family history if I'd only started 30 years earlier - right?)

3) Did you go on field trips, and if so, what was your most memorable field trip?I don't remember field trips in elementary school. I was on the school baseball team (right field, end-of-the-bench, scorekeeper, cheerleader, first-base coach) in elementary school and we traveled to play other teams on Saturdays.

San Diego schools sponsored a 6th grade camp back in the 1950's - a week in the Cuyamaca mountains with counselors and your classmates. This was up near Julian at about 4,000 feet altitude in the spring - so it could be warm, cold, rainy or somewhere in between. There were hiking trails, streams and pools of water, and big rocks, and even some wildlife - squirrels, raccoons, lizards, birds, spiders, etc. We never saw the snakes, skunks, and cougars that were probably out there. For a "big city" kid, this was pretty exciting (which is why they did it). Sleeping in sleeping bags on bunks, sitting around the campfire at night, crafts and physical activities were all part of the curriculum. I remember - vividly! - the physical challenges - rope bridge across a small canyon, the tree-climbing, etc. I wasn't in the Scouts, so this was really my first time in the woods like this. In the summer time after 6th grade, there was a Safety Patrol Camp on Mount Palomar with much the same activity - except it was run by the police department, which was pretty cool.

4) What teacher influenced you the most?

The ones in elementary school were Miss Williams (4th grade), Mr. de la Torre (5th grade) and Mr. Wragg (6th grade). They each encouraged individual responsibility and reaching your potential. Because of them I advanced into mathematics, history, geography and writing far beyond the curriculum. I also learned that "all people are created equal" and saw it in the accomplishments of these teachers. Mr. Wragg was shot and killed by a student sniper back in the 1970's here in San Diego. He was a school principal then and was shepherding students to safety when he was shot.

I remember only two high school teachers clearly - my math teacher was Mrs. JohnsiePosey (what a southern accent - a novelty in San Diego) and she really pushed us in high school math courses - trigonometry, geometry and calculus. But we got it - she made math fun. It prepared me very well for college, and she was like a professor. My chemistry teacher was an older fellow named J.O. Peterson (I still don't know his given names!) and what I remember from this class was that half the students were trying to make explosions in the classroom and Mr. Peterson was oblivious to it. I always tried to take the lab area furthest away from the experimenters! One of my best friends, Steve Johnson, could mimic J.O's speech perfectly and we would always be laughing in class.

5) Did you buy a lunch at school, or bring one from home? What kind of lunchbox? What was your favorite lunch?

What an unexpected question! I always brought a lunch from home. Always in a paper bag - no lunchbox ever. Invariably, it was a sandwich (either peanut butter or baloney) on white bread with butter, cookies or chips, and an apple. My mother made the lunch every night. The cost was minimal compared to buying it at school.

I was surprised they didn't ask about best friends, how we got to school, best moments, worst moments, dating, etc. Maybe I'll post about those issues later this week.

I encourage other genea-bloggers to share their lives in this way. Then make sure that your kids and grandkids know where to find it!

UPDATED 10/1, 1:45 PM: I remembered more stuff, and added it to the above.

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About Me

I am a native San Diegan, a graduate of San Diego State University, a retired aerospace engineer, a genealogist and a family guy.
My wife (Angel Linda) and I have two lovely daughters, and four darling grandchildren. We love to visit them and have them visit us.
Angel Linda and I love to travel to visit friends and relatives, to sightsee, to cruise or to do genealogy. Our travels have taken us all over the USA, to England, Down Under and Scandinavia.
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